The parent company of Bill O'Reilly's employer understands what is and is not appropriate in the workplace

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April 9, 2017 1:24AM (UTC)

To demonstrate blatant sexual harassment, 21st Century Fox has been exposing its employees to President Donald Trump's famed "Access Hollywood" tape during company seminars, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Friday. The seminars, taking place across multiple divisions at Fox, are being led by human resources executives focused on preventing harassment, discrimination and retaliation in the workplace.

The latest seminar was held on Tuesday, when Fox News advertisers were in the midst of a mass exodus from "The O'Reilly Factor" because of the host's own sexual harassment scandals. Even though Trump has publicly backed O'Reilly against the allegations, the parent company of Fox News apparently understands that some conduct can indeed amount to sexual harassment.

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According to one seminar attendee, who wished to remain anonymous, there was an "audible gasp" in the room when they played the "Access Hollywood" tape. THR reported:

During a five-minute portion of the Fox presentation, "They went through the scenario of the tape, why it was harassment and why it's something you should report," says the employee. "There was an audible gasp in the room, like, 'Can you believe this is happening?' Trump was defended on Fox News after that tape came out . . . Someone joked about getting fired for harassment and wondering if the defense could be, 'We were only told a behavior was bad once in a seminar,' but Fox News said it was 'just locker room talk' over and over again."

"It was a joke . . . But it did not play well in the room," the employee added.

A Fox spokesperson declined to provide a comment to THR on the contents of the harassment presentation, or Trump's alleged inclusion in it.

Taylor Link

Taylor Link is an assistant editor at Salon. You can find him on Twitter at @taylorlink_